Porta Potti

Well...sorry to say that most recreational boaters will end up using a 5 gallon bucket in an emergency and dump it over the side. Tug
 
My favorite subject! We have uses Tetford Tank product for years. We use the blue powered type. I think it does have some formaldehyde, but we have not had any odor.

Perhaps El and Bill will comment on the Ontario rules. They have cruised all over and probably have a good answer for you.

Fred, Pat and Mr. Grey (the cat)
 
Hi Folks,

Remember the cedar bucket in L. Francis book THE COMPLETE CRUISER. I wonder if they are outlawed in Canada?

Most of the Porti-potti's now have a place in the rear of them so they can be pumped out. If held down, they become a holding tank. Maybe somebody could find out if that would work.

If not, the good old bucket, cedar, plastic or metal would work. We just won't let them know that it has another use besides for bailing or washing.

Fred
 
We gave the new Sealand Portapotti some day testing over the past three weeks and some thorough testing over the weekend and after 3 days/2 nights with the three of us it worked great and was only 1/3 full (5gal model) not registering on the sight gauge yet. It used just barely over one gallon of the 2.5 built-in for flushing. We had none of the previous odor issues and the stern of the boat remained lighter than before without a full tank back there. The air pressure flush is actually pretty slick and does hold pressure for a few hours and uses not needing pumping all the time. When it does, just 15 quick pumps fills it and the release valve lets you know its full.

It appears we can safely make it for 5+ nights without need for any action. which is all we were hoping for and I can now move forward with drilling for vent line and removing all traces (tank,macerator) of the old salt water system.

I have manually dumped it twice now and while not being enjoyable is really not a big deal and I like that I will have that option. I will however be moving hastily to hook up the pumpout option for the vast majority of our future use. Now the trick will be how to engineer the fittings for cleanest possible backup manual dump option when we find ourselves in foreign, pumpless surroundings.

Greg
 
It would be nice if you could use the same fittings which are used on the deck and to the "pump out" to connect the porti potty to the hose going to the deck. These are quick release fittings, that are of the correct size.
 
Which fittings are you refering to? I have never seen a quick connect at the pumpout location. They do have some nice 1.5 inch ball valves I have had my eye one but how to connect quickly to them without a hose clamp is the challenge. Where are these 1.5 inch quick connectors?
 
Always one of my favorite subjects. Above in this thread there was discussion about parts. Years ago I had a problem with the bellows pump and the manufacturer sent me a new one NO CHARGE.

I still use a pottie on our Condo Walking trail for emergency use along the trail. But, just like on a boat the rather simple instructions confuse people. I have large typed instructions taped to the lid. One out of two times people can,t get it right. I check it often and clean up the mess. Next spring I think I will get a 5 gal. bucket with a toilet seat and plastic bags. That will work if we can get people to carry out the full bags.

A regular marine head we had on our larger boats also required a lot of instructions for land lubbers. Mr Grey the cat is no problem. He always used his litter box and always covers everything. We have not even tried to teach him to use a porti-potti.
 
Spent many hours Monday cutting below the cockpit deck to remove the holding tank, macerator pump, and lots of unneeded hose. I capped off the macerator discharge and vent line and ran new hose to the porta potti for pumpout. I also installed a small through-hull in the head for the vent line coming off the MSD fitting for the porta potti. It was a real piece of work getting that tank out in pieces but it did give me a good excuse to cut another large hole in the transom wall and add a matching middle access hatch like the two factory hatches. That tank/macerator removal sure did free up lots of space in the transom so now we have a nicer place for the stern anchor and fenders, lines. A simpler but more functional boat was the goal and it sure seems to be the case for us.

I will get some pics up soon and may install a backup bilge pump on the macerator curcuit. I wonder if I could use the macerator discharge port for a second bildge. It's very low relative to the water line.
 
Greg,

I think this is the quick connect Bob mentioned. At some pump-outs, the male end screws into the deck fitting, then the fem. end clamps on to pump the tank.

aaa_quick_hose.jpg
 
I will be removing my Porta Potti from the boat, i never use it. Instead i bought a ..Reliance Luggable Loo Portable Toilet Seat For Buckets, ( $ 10.95 ) .I already have a 5 pail i use for minnows and i can insert a bag and use for emergencies. I can store the Toilet Seat under the berth cushions out of the way and use the extra space for addittional storage.Tug
 
Thank you Roger. Yes, I have always carred an adaptor which screws into the threaded fitting in the deck, and then the quick connector from the pump out hose fits on top of that. West Marine catalogue 2010 page
525 "NozAll" adaptors, cost $ 29.99. You can fix a deck plate in the top of your portipotty and then leave the cap on it, to avoid odor. When time to pump out, you can pass the hose into the window and then use the adaptor screwed into the deck plate on the top of the porti potty.

Another option for folks who do not want the aft holding tank, yet don't want the portipotty is to put in a Dometic 711-M28 Marine sanitation system--which is the same as in my 2006 Tom Cat. This has a base which holds about 10 gallons of sewage, and easily adapted to a macerator thru the hull, near by, or a deck pump out--and I suspect is being used on the newer boats. This also uses fresh water for the "flush".
 
Captains Cat":16m6sb3e said:
"Free-standing portable toilets (i.e. porta potty) are not permitted onboard. Boats fitted with a toilet must have a holding tank, or, a marine sanitation device. (Boats built prior to May 3, 2007 have until May 3, 2012 to comply. Boats built on or after May 3, 2007 must comply now."

Charlie
Click to expand...

What is the simplest portapotti setup that meets the Ontario regs? There are portapotti models which can be held down by brackets (counts as permanent installation) but they would have to be attached to a deck fill (or empty, hahah) at least. If the setup was just for a couple of days use, how essential is a vent? How easy is it to install a deck fill? Where could the hose be routed? The regs don't say you actually have to use a pump out. So maybe you could install a minimum legal system and remove the portapotti for emptying in the usual way at the end of a trip. That way the hose would never get used and would be for `cosmetic' reasons only.
 
That does look like a nice fitting for direct connection to the potty but we have the MSD (marine sanitary device) fitting so I have the potti connected to our original pump out fitting on the stern port side. I am not completely sure but I believe the hold-down brackets and MSD fitting are designed to "make" the unit an approved device. The vent is primarily for allowing air exchange during the pumpout procedure and I would not connect that vacuum to a fully sealed tank. I suspect if you simply cracked the "hatch" on top of the tank while leaving the lid down on the toilet, it would provide enough air intake to make the process work but I would also bet there would be some "odor" released during the process especially of you did any flushing of the tank with fresh water from the pumpout fitting.

Running the vent is quite simple and could be accomplished with a variety of approaches. The "magic" fitting I would like to see would be a air tool style quick connector for 1 1/2 inch sanitation hose so I could easily detach the lower half of my potti from its pumpout connection if the need arose to do a manual dumping.

Right now, I will slide the potti forward and inch to release the hold-down brackets then lift and rotate the potti toward the bow to unseat the MSD fitting and drop that nasty appendage into a small bucket while I twist on the standard pour cap and carry the tank to a designated toilet or other reasonable pouring location. This will be a method to use as a backup to primarily pumping it out from the fitting on the boat.

We have noticed and heard from others that pumpout locations while common in puget sound, grow scarce as you motor north across the border and that is where we plan to go for longer trips. Having the manual pour out option will allow us to keep our potti working for weeks without a pumpout facility. Two girls on the boat so that potti has to work. They both like the Sealand 975 better than the factory manual flush unit. I looked at the 700 series units with the larger tank below and fresh water flush but I think using fresh water for flushing is not the best use of fresh water on a small boat with limited water. We can easily use salt water in the flush tank of our porta potti for periods of time with no damage to be done and we won't be running out of the salty stuff so long as it's still keeping us afloat.
 
I really like the idea of a fake outlet to use when going to Ontario.
The porta potti is still the simplest of all marine sanitation devices.
 
I thought I wouldn't use mine much, but on all trips so far it has been my "new best friend", especially on chilly nites :thup
 
The air quick disconnect should work fine--just be sure and get a good quality with brass and SS instead of plain steel for corrosion resistance.

How does the MSD hose seal around the top of the portipotty? How does that hole seal when you remove the hose for portable use. I guess I would not be happy with the tube which has been in the tank of the portipotty being "loose"--even in a bucket.

Please don't mis-understand, I think the porti potty is a great solution in some case. I have seen some places where they say "no dumping of porti potties".
 
The fitting for connection to a 1.5 inch sanitation hose and vent hose is #12 in this diagram. #5 and 6 are the standard parts for manually pouring out the contents which I will always carry on board.

http://www.northeastsanitation.com/sani ... agram.html

With that fitting twisted on to the potti tank. I have a hose running from the potti to the pumpout fitting on the stern of the boat at all times. The vent hose runs up to a new thru-hull near the roof of the head. I will admit that releasing the fitting to enable a manual dumping will leave me with a nasty appendage but remember this is the backup plan and not our primary method of emptying that tank.

The space freed up in the stern/transom for storage and elimination of one more pump and lots of plumbing was worth the swap alone. The quick fitting would be something I would use to eliminate the fitting in bucket routine but so far I have not found such a fitting in the size I need. I will keep and eye out.

So far I have seen lots of "no porta potty dumping" signs but they are nearly all at marinas in close proximity to a pump-out station. I will be pumping out whenever I have a facility nearby and I have not seen the signs in locations without a better option.

The places I really want to spend the most time, I could safely dingy the tank to a wild shore some evening and trek inland for a remote "dumping" of the tank. Still better in my mind than pouring it directly into the water I am trying to enjoy and protect within reason.


If any of you have not checked out some of the newer porta potties with compressed air flush or electric flush and larger holding tanks, you might be surprised at the lack of sacrifice when compared to the standard micro marine flush units featured standard on our boats.
 
Thanks for the diagram and explanation. There is no choice even with a quick disconnect, since you have to screw in the "pour out" fitting.
 
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